


The Arc of Ascension, Fragment e9,2: It Would Be Quite a Change

by bzarcher, solarbird



Series: Of Gods and Monsters [37]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Black Male Character, Body Modification, Conditioning, Domestic, Gay Character, Gay Male Character, Heroes, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, Love, M/M, Male Character of Color, Motivations, Oasis (Overwatch), Talon Angela "Mercy" Ziegler, Upgrades, Wings, changes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 02:23:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15132998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bzarcher/pseuds/bzarcher, https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarbird/pseuds/solarbird
Summary: The new gods have risen, ready, at last, to grapple with a world of heroes. Moira O'Deorain herself has been reborn, now made one of the creations her previous self meant to rule, and she works with her wife - the goddess Mercy - and their ensemble of new deities to remake the world, toimproveit... for everyone.Angela is a little surprised Michael hasn't taken one particular upgrade already, and suggests that this is, in fact, a pretty good time for it.Of Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Ascensionis a continuance ofOf Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Creation, a side-step sequel toThe Armourer and the Living Weapon. It will be told in a series of eddas, sagas, interludes, fragments, texts, and cantos, all of which serve their individual purposes. To follow it as it appears,please subscribe to the series.





	The Arc of Ascension, Fragment e9,2: It Would Be Quite a Change

_[Early May, 2078]_

“Don’t be silly,” the Goddess of Life said to the God of Wisdom. “You were a candidate for the system _before._ Under the circumstances I think it makes complete sense.”

“I’m not saying no,” Michael pointed out as he thoughtfully examined the padd Angela had brought in with her. “It would be quite a change, though.”

“Not as much as you might think,” Angela said with a smile as she floated across the lab to him. “You already have a nanite fleet - upgrading them is simply a matter of providing new commands and parameters by introducing a few thousand with the updates into your bloodstream, and letting your own circulatory system do the rest.”

Michael chuckled. “I was referring more to the _wings_ , Angela.” 

“They are also remarkably easy to adjust to,” Angela assured him.

“I’d need a more robust armature.” 

“With the improvements in hard light generation Satya has shared with us, and some of the new alloy composites from the Ministry of Engineering, it’s actually quite simple to get more lift for less weight. There’s specs on page five.” Angela reached out and put her hand over his. “You’re really trying to say you want to talk it over with Cadu first, aren’t you?”

Michael closed his eyes and nodded. “I really should. Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, because I _do_ , but I would like to make sure he’ll be comfortable with it.”

Angela smiled. “I have always appreciated your efforts to consider every consequence before going forward with a project.” Her smile turned a bit conspiratorial as she put a hand on her Valkyrie suit. “Now, assuming he _does_ say yes, have you considered colors?”

Michael hummed, considering the details of Angela’s suit, and how the design might need to be modified to fit his much larger frame. “Everyone tells me that I _do_ look good in red…”

\-----

"It'd be part of you, then." Cadu said. "Like an integrated prosthetic? Or like the other changes?"

"Something between the two, I think," Michael replied, lying on his lover's chest, the two of them strewn across the couch of their shared apartment. Moving in together had been a pretty big step, as it always was, for anyone, but... it had gone well. "Like Angela's."

"It doesn't seem nearly as much as what you've already gone through. Or as much as she has."

"It's not," Michael agreed. "It's... nothing, by comparison. Except..."

Cadu smiled, his brown eyes bright. "...it's the symbolism, isn't it."

Michael looked embarrassed, and smirked a little at himself. "I think it is. It's one thing to wear a flying suit - it's another entirely to have actual angel wings."

"If it really bothers you, why not just go that way? Stick with a suit?"

"Because I _do_ want them, Cadu!" He shook his head at himself. "Didn't you ever dream of flying, as a child?"

"Of course I did. But I grew up. Now, though, maybe I'm thinking I didn't have to. Not that way, at least."

"You'd do it?" Michael asked, surprised. "You'd take the wings?"

Cadu sighed. "No, I also grew afraid of heights. And I get airsick. But you aren't, and you don't." He kissed his lover. "To hell with the symbolism. You're becoming a practising doctor again, as well as researcher? You're going to go in with Angela, saving lives? Fine. Be an angel." He shook his head, smiling, and traced his fingers along Michael's shoulders. "She's everybody else's angel. You can be _mine_."

\-----

Angela had been right, Michael realized as he woke up from the anesthesia. It _was_ a remarkably easy adjustment.

He could feel them resting against his back, the cybernetic framework rooted into his shoulders and spine, while the subtler interfaces for the rest of the Valkyrie system synchronized with his upgraded nanosurgeons. 

Michael took a deep breath as he sat up, and felt the wings - _his_ wings - rise and fall, perfectly natural, perfectly _right._

Angela smiled as she looked up from reviewing his chart. “Ah! Good, good. How do you feel, Michael?”

“I feel..." he closed his eyes, shuddered with pleasure, and whispered, "I feel... I feel as though I've just realised I've been missing part of my body my entire life, and never knew." 

He opened his eyes again, and laughed. "Also as though I should have taken you up on the offer of field medic training ten years ago." He stretched out his arms, and the icy blue feathers of hard light burst into being, stretching and flexing. “This is _incredible!_ ” 

“Well,” Angela said with a smug little smile, “I don’t want to say ‘I told you so’, but…” 

Michael chuckled, conceding the point. “So... when can I start my flying lessons?” 

The goddess grinned, delighted. “Lessons? Michael, you don’t need lessons - everything you need to know is already a part of you.”

Michael considered that, and realized, eyes wide, that she was exactly right. He didn’t have to practice, or think about it - he just decided to _fly_ , and he found himself rising from the bed.

“You're fully through processing, and your suit is in the closet,” Angela informed him as she went to the door. “Why don’t you get dressed, and meet me upstairs?”

And just so the God of Wisdom found himself taking to the roof and the bright Oasis sun a only few minutes later, resplendent in his white armor trimmed in red and black, watching and beaming broadly as his friend, the goddess of life, demonstrated to him how to soar.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the seventh instalment of _Of Gods and Monsters: The Arc of Ascension_. To follow this story, [subscribe to the series via this link](https://archiveofourown.org/series/972024), rather than to the individual works.


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